Read Online Transmission Lost by Stefan Mazzara - Free Book Online Page A

predator. They dug a hole deep enough to hold the body, and Jack rolled the corpse into it, filling it in and covering it with loose dirt and leaf litter. When they were finished they returned to the camp once more and put away the shovels. The fire was still crackling merrily, and Aria tossed two more sticks onto it. She sat down in front of the fire, staring into the flames.
    Jack hesitated for a few moments, then he sat down as well, opposite her. After almost thirty minutes of silence, other than the popping and hissing of the fire, Jack spoke.
    “Thank you,” he said quietly. “You saved my life. I'd be dead if it wasn't for you.”
    Aria snapped her head up, her eyes glinting in the light. For a heartbeat it seemed as though she was about to snap at him again, but then she looked back down. “Welcome. When I wake up and you not there, I think you run away. Come look for you.” She smirked just a little bit. “Lucky I wake up this time, yes?”
    “Y-Yeah,” Jack agreed, laughing nervously.
    The female sat for a little longer, then she stood, walking around the fire. As she passed Jack, she paused and laid a hand on his shoulder. “I go back to bed. You sleep, too. We leave soon after sunrise, yes? Need to keep moving.”
    “Right...,” Jack agreed. “And...uh...Thanks, again.” He put a hand to his face, feeling a sting and a small wet patch of blood where she'd struck him.
    Aria looked down at him, and then she turned away. As she walked past his pack, she stopped and pulled out the medkit. She came back to Jack, opening it up, and she knelt next to him. Taking a disinfectant wipe, she swiped it over the small cut on his cheek and then put a bandage on it. Aria stood back up and then vanished into her tent.
    Touching the fresh bandage on his face, Jack looked after her, and not for the first time he thought to himself that she was one hard woman to figure out.
     
    ******
     
    The next day they got an early start, just as Aria had said. She made no mention of the previous night's event, and Jack wasn't in any mood to remind her about it. They took more breaks than they had the previous day. The pair had seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement that Aria would not complain about his needs for rest, so long as he didn't complain about the work.
    As the day passed into afternoon, the forest started to grow thinner, becoming less of a rainforest and more of a temperate area. Jack noticed that they were starting to go downhill, too, which was a welcome relief. As the going got a little easier, both of their moods improved, and Aria's death threats became less frequent.
    On one of their breaks, while they sat in the shade of a tree, Aria even started talking to him in a conversational way. “So, Jack. You from Earth, yes? Or born on a colony?”
    Jack was a little taken aback by this friendly line of speech. “Uh...I was born on Europa, but my family moved back to Earth when I was five. So both, I guess.”
    Aria nodded. “Which you like better, colony or home planet?”
    “I dunno,” Jack said, shrugging. “I don't really remember Europa all that well. I grew up on Earth, and that's what I'm used to.” He leaned back against the tree.
    “Have family on Earth?”
    Jack nodded. “Some. My mother and father are still there. My brother lives on Mars, working in the mining industry there. I have a sister, too...She's in the Navy somewhere out there, I'm not sure where.” He paused. “I'm not sure I'd want to tell you where, actually, even if I did know. I probably shouldn't even have mentioned that.”
    “Is okay.” Aria waved a hand. “Ascendancy already knows most of where human military is. No harm.”
    Jack relaxed a little. Of course, he thought. After all, it's not like she can do anything about it. We're stuck on this planet. He turned his head to look at Aria. “What about you, Aria? Where are you from? You have any family out there?”
    She looked away from him, off into the distance. Jack